Thread: Fighters and Writers pick a winner for Jones vs Calzaghe

This was posted on the HBO Boxing website. Just in case anyone cared...

WRITER & FIGHTER PREDICTIONS - CALZAGHE VS. JONES
November 7, 2008 - Photos by Will Hart

FIGHTERS

Bernard Hopkins- Former two-division world champion - Jones W 12
"Jones by unanimous decision based on his speed and power."

Ricky Hatton- IBO & Ring Magazine junior welterweight world champion
"Roy has seen better days and I think that Joe will be too fast for Roy. Joe will outbox Roy and win by points. I'm going with Joe."

Lennox Lewis- Former heavyweight champion
"Jones has unbelievable speed and Calzaghe's never fought anyone like him. Jones likes it when his opponent comes to him and unfortunately for Calzaghe, that's exactly what he does; comes to his opponent and is right in their face. I pick Jones on points, but I think it'll be a very close fight."

Oscar De La Hoya- Olympic gold medalist and 10-time world champion
"Calzaghe will beat Jones by a unanimous decision. Joe is going to close the door on Roy's boxing career."

Manny Pacquiao- Ring Magazine pound-for-pound champion
"Calzaghe by decision. Joe is hungrier and a little younger."

Shane Mosley- Former lightweight, welterweight and junior middleweight champion of the world
"Roy has trouble with southpaws and Calzaghe is a great southpaw. Roy is a fighter that is always on his toes and I think that when Hopkins fought Calzaghe, and was moving a lot, it gave Joe a lot of problems. I think Roy can do the same thing. I think he can cause problems for Joe with his speed. I'm not really sure on Roy right now. I have to lean towards Joe on this one. You can't count Roy out, but I think Joe will get Roy with a lot of combinations and out point him. Roy back in the day would have destroyed Joe, but now Joe will outpoint him with a lot of activity and win the fight."

Paulie Malignaggi- Former IBF junior welterweight champion.
"It's a hard fight to pick. I thought Calzaghe at first because, but maybe he's too much for Roy right now. But based on what Joe just said about the three Brits beating the three Americans (Calzaghe-Jones, Hatton-Malignaggi, Haye-Barrett), I'm pulling Roy home.....Jones by decision."

WRITERS:

Chris Mannix- Sports Illustrated - Calzaghe W 12
"Jones has done an incredible job resurrecting his career, but he hasn't faced a fighter of Calzaghe's caliber (sorry, Anthony Hanshaw fans) since he was slapped around by Antonio Tarver three years ago. Slapping may be the only thing the light hitting Calzaghe will do to Jones, but his superior hand speed will be more than enough to score a unanimous decision."

John Falgoust- USA Today - Calzaghe TKO Late
"Calzaghe in late stoppage. Usually counter punchers like Antonio Tarver, Eric Harding and Montell Griffin give Roy Jones trouble. Not aggressors. But this isn't the same Roy Jones. Calzaghe's work rate alone should do the trick here. Make Jones fight three minutes of every round and don't allow him to rest on the ropes or clown to kill the clock. It'll open up Calzaghe to get caught in between his flurries, such as when Bernard Hopkins dropped him with a counterpunch, but fortunately for him Jones isn't a finisher."

Dan Rafael- ESPN.com - Jones W 12
"Although Calzaghe is the favorite, I think Jones' style and speed -- he's still fast -- are going to give him problems. I think it will be a tough, close fight but I'm going with the upset special. I like Jones to pull it out on a close decision."

Kevin Iole- Yahoo.com - Calzaghe W 12
"Calzaghe will win in 12 rounds. If this fight had happened five years ago, it would be a different story. But Jones is a shell of the fighter he used to be and Calzaghe is simply too busy for Jones now. I expect Calzaghe to outwork Jones and pull out a clear decision."

Tim Smith- New York Daily News - Jones W 12
"Roy Jones has good power and I think that will offset the volume of punches that Calzaghe throws. Calzaghe has a good chin so I don't see him getting knocked out. I like Jones in a decision."

Alan Hubbard- Independent on Sunday - Calzaghe W 12
"Calazghe should scrape a narrow points verdict, possibly another spilt decision, a la Bernard Hopkins, in an untidy fight. Jones may no longer have the residual firepower to hurt or harass him but Calzaghe has surely been distracted by the legal wrangling following his split from long-time UK promoter Frank Warren and the concerns of co-promoting this fight. He has struggled to repeat punch-perfect form he attained against Jeff Lacy, but is wily and resilient enough to keep Jones at a southpaw arm's length. He is already established as Britain's most enduring post world war champion and victory over Jones would cement his deserved claim to be the outstanding British fighter of the modern era."

Bobby Cassidy- Newsday - Jones TKO 11
"I like Roy Jones in the 11th round TKO. Calzaghe does not have the power to keep Jones honest. I think by the second half of the fight Jones will be picking him a part. Calzaghe looked so good against Hopkins because Hopkins didn't have the firepower to slow him down. But Jones has both speed and power. In other fights, Calzaghe has been able to adjust to one of those assets; he won't be able to adjust to both, especially from a fighter like Jones."

Of all of them I agree with Mosley the most.

Also I don't see how Chris Mannix thinks Joe has faster hands.

i agree with everybody who picked jones to win

The people who picked Jones to win, the writers anyhow, (only now seen this thread) have the been fired yet? i mean how stupid can people be...?

Forget the name of who Roy is fighting, this is a guy who is placed from 1-3 in the world as a p4p fighter, top 3 the best in the world i most peoples opinions, tricky stouh paw, fast and younger than Roy and a little bigger. Yet they think and guy who couldn;t finish trinidad is going to beat him, by saying that surly Roy goes back inot the top 5 p4p in the world, DOES ANYONE think that before the fight Roy was longed for any p4p stop in the top 20, let alone the top 5?

And they are meant to be experts, give me a fucking break.

delete me

Originally Posted by Preme

The people who picked Jones to win, the writers anyhow, (only now seen this thread) have the been fired yet? i mean how stupid can people be...?

Forget the name of who Roy is fighting, this is a guy who is placed from 1-3 in the world as a p4p fighter, top 3 the best in the world i most peoples opinions, tricky stouh paw, fast and younger than Roy and a little bigger. Yet they think and guy who couldn;t finish trinidad is going to beat him, by saying that surly Roy goes back inot the top 5 p4p in the world, DOES ANYONE think that before the fight Roy was longed for any p4p stop in the top 20, let alone the top 5?

And they are meant to be experts, give me a fucking break.

HAHAHA, its real easy to brag and sling shit AFTER the fight, isnt it? You didn't seem so sure before hand though, in fact I seem to recall you standing up for Jones to someone who claimed he had no chance and people were delusional for thinking he could win.

By Preme
he still has major speed lol

what made him so great in his prime was him being bale to slip and a punch and conter, he never needed to block one.

That is one of the things to me that got him beat by tarver and johnson, he still thought he could slip everythign and counter, be he was getting hit unlike before.

He doesn't moce as much now, but his def is a lot better than before he was slipping. I expect calzaghe to win, he is the younger of the two oldies, but Roy hasn't lost yet.


I dunno, you didn't seem so confident about the outcome back then, did you?

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

Originally Posted by Preme

The people who picked Jones to win, the writers anyhow, (only now seen this thread) have the been fired yet? i mean how stupid can people be...?

Forget the name of who Roy is fighting, this is a guy who is placed from 1-3 in the world as a p4p fighter, top 3 the best in the world i most peoples opinions, tricky stouh paw, fast and younger than Roy and a little bigger. Yet they think and guy who couldn;t finish trinidad is going to beat him, by saying that surly Roy goes back inot the top 5 p4p in the world, DOES ANYONE think that before the fight Roy was longed for any p4p stop in the top 20, let alone the top 5?

And they are meant to be experts, give me a fucking break.

HAHAHA, its real easy to brag and sling shit AFTER the fight, isnt it? You didn't seem so sure before hand though, in fact I seem to recall you standing up for Jones to someone who claimed he had no chance and people were delusional for thinking he could win.

By Preme
he still has major speed lol

what made him so great in his prime was him being bale to slip and a punch and conter, he never needed to block one.

That is one of the things to me that got him beat by tarver and johnson, he still thought he could slip everythign and counter, be he was getting hit unlike before.

He doesn't moce as much now, but his def is a lot better than before he was slipping. I expect calzaghe to win, he is the younger of the two oldies, but Roy hasn't lost yet.


I dunno, you didn't seem so confident about the outcome back then, did you?

i said there i expect calzaghe to win.

And i;,m not a paid 'expert' like the writers i was talking about...

Saying that you "expect" Calzaghe to win and "Roy hasn't lost the fight yet" is a hell of a lot different then saying people are stupid for picking Jones and that the writers who picked him should be fired.

HUUUUUUGE difference. I hate when people act condescending and chuck shit after the fact. Like I mentioned before, your post didn't illuminate with confidence for Calzaghe and you stood up for Roy when someone said he had no chance, so you have absolutely NO right to act high and mighty and chuck sh#t at people who picked Jones.